Quadrantid meteor shower will peak tonight

One of 2012’s best and brightest meteor showers will light up the skies of North America Tuesday night , promising dozens of shooting stars every hour.

The Quadrantid meteor shower occurs annually, with unpredictable results. Sometimes the bits of burning debris can barely be seen from Earth. Other years, sky watchers get a dazzling eyeful.

This year will likely be one of the Quadrantid’s more impressive displays, providing the weather doesn’t get in the way.

The shower will peak around 11 p.m. (PST) Tuesday night. Eastern North America will likely get a better view than the rest of the continent, since the radiant — the place the meteors appear — will be higher in the sky.

More about the meteor shower, via NASA:

Like the Geminids, the Quadrantids originate from an asteroid, called 2003 EH1. Dynamical studies suggest that this body could very well be a piece of a comet which broke apart several centuries ago, and that the meteors you will see before dawn on Jan. 4 are the small debris from this fragmentation. After hundreds of years orbiting the sun, they will enter our atmosphere at 90,000 mph, burning up 50 miles above Earth’s surface — a fiery end to a long journey!

Will Seattle catch a glimpse? Sure, as long as we can build a great big fan to blow all these clouds over to Eastern Washington. Any takers?

Here’s a better option for those who want to watch the short-lived show. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama has set up a live-stream broadcast, and you can watch online.